Before becoming president at noon on Jan. 20, 2025, President-elect Donald Trump could make trips to visit with key U.S. partners. These travels would allow him to jump-start a bold foreign policy agenda and show that he values dialogue with friends just as much as he does dialogue with foes.
Where could Trump go and why?
To start, London, the capital of America’s closest ally, the United Kingdom. The United States exported $74.05 billion in goods and services to the U.K. in 2023. Tourism and other cultural links add greatly to mutual U.S.-U.K. prosperity. In his first term in office, Trump made strides toward reaching a U.S.-U.K. free trade deal that would have benefitted both nations. And while any revival of those efforts would depend on Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s willingness to allow U.S. exports of agricultural products, these discussions are worth having. Both countries would benefit from a free trade deal.
Still, as he offers the opportunity for new commerce, Trump could also make clear his concerns to Starmer over his government’s increasing efforts to boost cooperation with China. Starmer is clearly pursuing a more conciliatory relationship with Beijing than the government he replaced in July. This has included notable shifts in rhetoric even from U.K. intelligence chiefs. Starmer personally met with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this week, emphasizing his desire for increased Chinese investment into the U.K. This is a problem for the U.S. in that, in return for new investment, China will demand reduced U.K. support for U.S. efforts to resist Chinese aggression in the Pacific. Trump could make clear that the Special Relationship cannot be compatible with Starmer’s special deference to Beijing.
Next up, Trump could go to Warsaw. Poland is an important U.S. ally that takes very seriously the importance of fairer burden sharing in NATO. Trump has a strong relationship with Poland’s conservative President Andrzej Duda but also knows the liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk from his first term. And with Poland set to spend around 4.7% of GDP on defense in 2025, the country sets an exceptional example in support of Trump’s effort to see European allies make greater contributions to NATO. Moreover, unlike Poland’s neighbor, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, who is the Chinese Communist Party’s foremost political prostitute in the European Union, Warsaw takes seriously U.S. concerns related to China.
Trump’s sidestepping of Berlin for Warsaw would also spark concern in Germany as to the shifting priority of the U.S. toward more reliable allies. In contrast to Poland, not only has Germany significantly pared back its defense spending increases, but it has also stood firm on closer relations with China. This Polish visit would thus send the dual-hatted message of Trump’s commitment to reliable allies and his disinterest in maintaining the Biden administration’s tolerance for allies that are more ambivalent toward key U.S. foreign policy concerns.
Trump could then travel just over the border to Kyiv. Visiting Ukraine would signal American moral recognition of that country’s defensive campaign against a wholly unjustified Russian invasion. That moral leadership from the world’s most powerful democracy to a democracy facing the threat of annihilation would be noticed the world over.
Crucially, also, this visit would not detract from Trump’s interest in negotiating a speedy end to the war. On the contrary, it would earn Trump additional leverage over Russia by making clear he recognizes that Ukraine is the victim in this conflict. Trump will need all the leverage he can muster. After all, the most challenging element toward reaching a viable Ukraine peace accord is likely to be Russian intransigence against making concessions. If Russian President Vladimir Putin believes Trump doesn’t really care what happens to Ukraine as long as Trump can claim he secured a peace deal, Putin will make maximalist demands of Trump. A viable peace will not be possible in that scenario.
Following the European leg of this visit, Trump could head off to Jerusalem. This would signal support for Israel as it continues to confront the battlefield remnants of Hamas, fights the Lebanese Hezbollah to the north, and faces sustained threats from Iran. Trump’s arrival in Israel would also provide at least some diplomatic consolidation for Israel with other nations. U.S. allies and partners would fear that taking a more critical policy toward Israel might result in Trump’s ensuing ire toward them.
But Iran is the key here. Whether Trump can successfully secure a detente with Iran toward negotiating a new nuclear accord is unclear. But if Trump imposes new sanctions on Iran in order to gain leverage toward negotiations, and with Iran already having stockpiled significant quantities of near-weapons grade purity uranium, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei may order a nuclear breakout in 2025. An Iranian nuclear weapon is viewed in Israel as the precursor to a second Holocaust. In turn, Trump’s public support for Israel would both help to deter Iran and consolidate a people still traumatized by the events of Oct. 7, 2023.
Jumping on a plane, Trump could make the short 40-mile flight to Amman, Jordan, where he could meet with King Abdullah II. Jordan is a critical ally that has provided immense and enduring support to U.S. security interests and Middle Eastern stability. The Jordanian GID intelligence service was critical in infiltrating the Islamic State group and collecting intelligence which likely saved thousands of Western lives, for example. And as Trump considers revitalizing peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, Abdullah would be an important interlocutor with any Palestinian authorities.
The final stop of the Middle Eastern leg of Trump’s travels could be Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is an autocrat with dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s blood on his hands. But bin Salman is also the de facto leader of a historic and still important U.S. ally.
Saudi Arabia has provided critical intelligence support in the fight against the Islamic State group. U.S.-Saudi economic relations also continue to run deep, and bin Salman’s influence on OPEC oil pricing is significant. More importantly, bin Salman is engaged in long overdue reforms to modernize his economy and bring Saudi culture more in line with Western modernity. Bin Salman is also strengthening women’s rights even as he continues to hold political prisoners. Saudi Arabia’s vast youth population needs jobs and pathways via which to fulfill its aspirations. Unless bin Salman succeeds in his reforms, Saudi Arabia will be a desert kingdom without the oil revenues to support its population. This a recipe for an Islamic State group 2.0 revival of far greater power and potency. Put simply, bin Salman should be engaged as a complicated friend rather than as a pariah. The Biden administration’s tendency toward the latter approach has offended bin Salman and led him to boost relations with China and Russia.
Trump could then go to Asia. Notably, Trump should not stop off in India. Although the world’s most populous democracy will be an increasingly important partner, the U.S. has not received nearly as much from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government as that which it has provided. In line with Trump’s transactional approach to diplomacy, India needs to understand that it cannot keep having its American cake and eating American interests at the same time.
Seoul, South Korea, could be the first stop in Asia. As Trump seeks to reengage North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, his first priority should be to ensure effective liaison with Seoul. President Yoon Suk Yeol recently agreed to a deal to increase South Korea’s expenditure in support of costs related to the extensive U.S. military presence in the country. He has also engaged collaboratively with Japan, moving past a long period of poor relations between the two allies. And while South Korea needs to spend more on defense, whether on North Korea or China, Yoon can be an important partner for Trump.
Japan also holds value as a destination point. While Japan similarly needs to increase defense spending, it remains a critical U.S. ally in the face of China’s rising threat to Taiwan. U.S. military bases on Japanese territory would be crucial to the effective waging of any U.S. war effort. And Japan has shown indications that it would participate in any campaign to defend Taiwan. This is beneficial for U.S. deterrent efforts to persuade China not to launch an attack in the first place. Befitting his extremely good relationship with former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, Trump should seek to forge a similar relationship with new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Finally, there’s Australia. Visiting Canberra would allow Trump to offer continued support to the AUKUS submarine agreement and the associated expectation that Australia will continue with its increased support for U.S. efforts to deter China. As with the U.K., however, Trump could also make clear to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that he is concerned by Australia’s increasing priority on Chinese trade interests.
It is, of course, understandable that Australia would wish to boost economic ties with a country that accounts for nearly 30% of all Australian exports. But Trump should warn privately that his administration will watch closely to see whether this trade agenda leads to a pullback of Australian support for U.S. security efforts. This matters because China views its trade policy as an extension of its political strategy. Beijing shamelessly uses trade to leverage concessions in that political pursuit.
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Trump will soon be president and leader of the free world.
But if he wants to get off to a running start, he should get out to the world before Jan. 20, 2025. The president-elect will have his own ideas of where to travel, but these locations would make for a good starting place.